Equipment Scheduling for Efficient Field Service Operations

Equipment Scheduling for Efficient Field Service Operations



Zoho FSM helps you nail the critical aspect of field service management, i.e., scheduling the right technicians to the service appointments. Ensuring that technicians have access to the right tools and machinery for their job is also of paramount importance. An Equipment is a tool or vehicle that is owned by a field services organization and is utilized to perform various field services. Proper equipment management allows for better planning and allocation of these equipments. Technicians' access to the right and safe equipment is also vital for compliance with industry regulations and safety standards.
 
To achieve this, we are introducing a new module, Equipments, to manage the scheduling of tools and vehicles used in service delivery. Read on to find out how.

Scheduling Equipment To Appointments

You can assign equipment to appointments. This ensures that technicians have the necessary tools and machinery for each service call. This also ensures that the equipment assigned to an appointment will be designated as "unavailable" for the scheduling of other jobs that need that same vehicle or equipment.
 
From the Dispatch Console, simply click on the row corresponding to the equipment you want to assign to an appointment, and you can easily schedule it along with any field technicians and crews.
 

 
You can assign equipments to appointments from the mobile app too.


Managing Equipments  

You can add the tools, machinery, or vehicles with all the necessary details, such as type, model number, warranty details, etc.
 

Create Crews With Equipments

Similar to how you add users to be part of a crew, you can also add equipments to be part of crews.


Visibility Into Equipment Details 

Within each equipment record, comprehensive details about it are covered under the following tabs:
  • Timeline: Provides you with a chronological view of the changes done to the record.



  • Calendar View: The appointments assigned to the user can be viewed in the calendar with Monthly, Weekly, Daily, or List views. Hover over an entry to view the details. Further details of the appointment can be viewed by clicking on the entry.



  • Time Off: Add details of when the equipment is unavailable.



  • Notes: Allows users to add comments or observations related to the equipment. This can be useful for documenting issues or any other relevant information.


Before we conclude, it would be prudent to understand the difference between a part, an asset, and an equipment, terms you might get mixed up about.
 
Part: It is an individual component or part used to perform repair or maintenance services.  The customer will be charged for the parts used in a service. E.g., a thermostat for AC repair services, emulsion paint for painting services. A part can also be something that you sell. E.g., Air Conditioner
 
In Zoho FSM, you add the necessary parts as line items while creating a work order or estimate.
 
Asset: Refers to a part instance that has been sold to customers and is now owned by them. E.g. Consider a company selling or renting out appliances like Air Dryers, Air Coolers, Filter Systems, etc and providing repairs and maintenance after that. They will add each of their sold product as an asset in Zoho FSM.
 
For an asset, you can create Requests, Estimates, Work Orders, and Scheduled Maintenances in Zoho FSM.
 
Equipment: An Equipment is a tool or vehicle that is owned by a field services organization and is utilized to perform various field services. E.g., power tools, diagnostic and testing equipment, vehicles, etc. Vacuum pump, Leak detector, etc are some of the equipments used for AC repair.
 
In Zoho FSM, you can add equipments to crews and territories and assign them to service appointments just as you will a field agent. Read on to find out the details.

Please refer to the help documentation for in-depth details. Do feel free to leave a comment below or email us at support@zohofsm.com if you have any questions.

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